Monday, July 16, 2007

I am back in my hometown for a few weeks of vacation and it’s been a highly anticipated change from the city. My mother raises ducks on my parent’s hobby farm and enjoys a wide range of benefits. The Khaki Campbell duck are great layers and my parents eat the large, beautiful duck eggs daily. It was easy to be inspired to make an omelet just by those large dark yolks.

We also had some Bolete mushrooms we had discovered on our walk the night before, and I was itching to sauté them up. Wild mushroom hunting has been a family passion as long as I can remember- I even used to sit and read our thick encyclopedia of wild mushooms as a kid and marvel at the countless varieties and beautiful colors.

Unfortunately, July is off season for some of B.C.’s more coveted mushrooms, like morels, pine mushrooms and chanterelles, but I was happy with my boletes. They made a tasty filling for my omelet.

Duck Egg Omelet with Boletes and Chives

Two duck eggs, lightly beaten

1 Bolete mushroom, or a handful of another variety, sliced

1 Tablespoon water

1/4 teaspoon salt

fresh ground pepper

1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

1 teaspoon butter

In a bowl, beat eggs together with salt, pepper, chives and water. Heat a non-stick pan and melt butter then add mushrooms and saute lightly. Add egg mixute and cook over medium-low heat until firm. Fold over with a spatula and serve.

Serves two.

On the day we arrived, one mother duck had just hatched a batch of fifteen ducklings. When we peeked in on them, the mother made her disapproval known by hissing vehemently at us, but a few of the little fuzzy ducklings raised their heads to say hello. Bonjour!

What a beautiful post! Those chicks are so cute and their eggs, worthy of any Easter display. At my in-laws in Spain they have a boletes festival. I guess it's the same type as yours. I need to look into that.

I just found your blog, and I'm looking forward to reading the previous posts now. The duck eggs are so beautiful, the omelette set against that minty green plate looks stunning, and...the ducklings! Too cute for words. :-)